Texas Governor Greg Abbott is has declared a statewide moratorium on approvals for new data centers, until regulators can audit the impacts the facilities might have on local communities.
According to the Associated Press, Abbott is calling on the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to look into how data center developers provide information to the state regarding tax breaks they're receiving, their use of power and water, and their efforts to reduce their footprint in communities they neighbor.
“Our top priority is to protect Texans’ safety and quality of life,” Abbott wrote in an August 3 statement. “Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first.”
Data from The Texas Tribune estimates that there are least 335 data centers operating in Texas, with at least 248 additional facilities planned down the line, and hundreds more in other earlier development stages. Texas is the second largest market for data centers in the U.S., only trailing Virginia.
State regulators have frequently clashed with data center developers in recent months, after just 28 out of 377 companies responded to a PUCT survey that sought to measure the facilities' water and power usage. In a June hearing, Republican State Rep. Brad Buckley labeled the lack of survey participation as "pretty pathetic," and cautioned fellow lawmakers against making major policy decisions based on incomplete information from developers.
This marks the country's second statewide pause on data centers, after New York enacted a one-year moratorium in July. However, Abbott's move is especially significant given his status as a Republican, and President Donald Trump's well-established position that states should not regulate the artificial intelligence industry. It's unclear how long the Texas moratorium might last, with Abbott indicating an open-ended timeline that will rely on the scope of the audit.
